The reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge.
Many types of footwear, particularly athletic footwear, are fitted with studs, spikes or cleats in order that the wearer may maintain their footing, even when the ground is wet and slippery. This type of footwear is commonly used by golfers, cricketers, athletes and players of all football codes.
Traditionally, the studs, spikes or cleats (hereafter collectively referred to as “studs”) have been of the type that comprises a screw thread for screwing the stud into a threaded bore in the sole of a shoe. The studs once threaded into the sole of a shoe typically require a tool to tighten or loosen the studs for attachment or removal from the sole. Furthermore, in order to accommodate the threaded bore, the sole of the shoe must be quite thick. In turn, a thick sole makes the shoe heavy, less flexible, and therefore less comfortable for the wearer. Additionally, on hard playing surfaces the screw threads of the studs and the threaded bores in the shoes can apply significant pressure on the delicate metatarsal bones in the feet of a wearer making the shoes very uncomfortable.
Furthermore, another disadvantage with traditional studs is that they are typically formed from a rigid material and as such are often responsible for many potentially career ending lower leg injuries where the studs get caught on the playing surface while the wearer's ankle rolls or knee twists.
There is also an advantage to provide a stud that can be replaced, and especially a stud that can be replaced in a relatively easy manner. This is particularly important for athletes and players of all football codes who have to routinely replace studs due to wear, weather conditions or for safety reasons.
Some attempts have been made to overcome these issues. For instance, in international patent application no. PCT/AU2010/000039 (the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference) a removable spike or cleat having multiple ground-engaging legs is disengaged from a shoe by deforming the ground-engaging legs. While this is suitable when multiple ground-engaging legs are present (for instance, in spikes for golf shoes), this will not always be the case. For instance, some studs for various codes of football, cricket and athletics comprise only a single ground-engaging portion. This ground-engaging portion may be rigid and non-deformable or alternatively may be resiliently deformable.
Thus, there is a need for an alternative removable stud assembly for footwear.